Indicating device for beaters



Oct. 15, 1929.

G. S. WITHAM, JR

INDICATING DEVICE FOR BEATERS Filed April 8, 1927 lNl/EN TOR fieorgei n/if/wnzdxr ATTORNEY Patented Get. 15, 192.9

PATENT OFFICE GEORGE STANFORD WITHAM, JR., OF HUDSON FALLS, NEW YORK INDICATING DEVICE FOR BEATERS Application filed April 8, 1927. Serial No. 1s2,1ea

My invention relates to paper making machinery and particularly to a novel device adapted for attachment to beating engines or the like whereby the operator or beaterman may ascertain with some degree of accuracy the work being performed by the engine.

Of the many and varied steps through which the raw material passes in the manufacture of paper, the beating operation is perhaps the most important. The pulp, highly diluted with water, is circulated about in an elongated tank or vat and subjected to a disintegrating and h drating treatment by the action of a revo ving roll equipped with plates or knives which coact with a bed plate beneath to cut, comb, draw out or break up the pulp into its elemental fibers. The roll is mounted upon a horizontal shaft, driven from a suitable source of power, and which is mounted in bearings at either side of the tank or vat. These bearings are vertically movable so that the distance between the lower periphery of the roll and the bed plate may be varied.

The physical characteristics of the finished paper, such as permanency and strength, are largely determined by the beating operation. For example, ifa soda pulp is beaten quickly withsharp knives, and with the beater roll quite close to the stationary knives or bed plate, the ultimate product will be a soft, spongy paper resembling blottings. On the other hand, if a strong sulphite pulp is beaten slowly for a period of eight or ten hours with blunt knives, and the beater roll is lowered gradually during the process, the ultimate product will be a strong, dense sheet of paper resembling parchment.

When the stock is first placed in the beater it is comparatively coarse, and the first step in the beating process is more or less directed to breaking up and disintegrating any large particles present. During this breaking up process the distance between the lower periphery of the roll and the bed plate must be comparatively great.

After the larger particles of stock have been reduced in size the roll is lowered and the stock is then subjected to a combing or cutting action. When this step is completed plate the roll may again be lowered and the treatment then becomes an actual brushing out of the stock so that the end of each elemental fiber is broken up to facilitate the felting or interlocking of the fibers in the web forming process.

During the operation of the machine, the spacing of the roll from the bed plate cannot be directly observed and means for indirectly indicating this spacing have been devised. While such means indicate the spacing, they do not afford a means for ascertaining the precise extent to which the beating operation has been extended. In other words, the mere spacing of the roll and plate does not, of itself, indicate whether the engine is operating at its maximum efficiency .or whether the stock has been sufficiently beaten at the particular spacing observed.

For the purpose of roughly gauging the work which is being performed in the beater and estimating the spacing between the roll and the bed plate it is now customary for the beaterman to feel the vibration of the bed plate. In practice, he may take an ordinary stick, a steel rod, or anything that happens to be handy and by placing this on the bed feel the vibration thereof. No two operators in the same mill will place the rod at the same point, and it is likely that rods of different material may be used. Hence no two operators will make the same deductions from their observations and the method is crude and unsatisfactory.

The I objects of this invention, therefore, are to standardize as far as possible the operation of the beating engine and to eliminate or reduce theuncertainty of the operators personal equation. Another object of my invention is to provide a means whereby ever operator will take observations at the same point and by the same means so that a certain uniformity of procedure is attained. And a further object of my invention is to provide a means whereby the roll and bed plate spacing is determined by ausculation and comparison, if necessary or desirable, with established tonal, standards.

Withthese objects, in view my invention includes the novel elements and combinations and arrangements of elements described below and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a beater showing the attachment of my device;

Fig. 2' is a front view of Fig. 1 with the bearings and supports omitted;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary end view of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective sketch of a fragmentary portion of the bed plate showing the attachment of my device; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail of one form of vibration detector.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the tank or vat of the beater, 2 the midfeather, 3 the beater roll shaft, and 4; the adjustable bearings therefor on one side of the machine.

5 represents an extension of the bed plate or a means rigidly attached to the bed plate and which will be correspondingly effected by vibrations thereof. Secured to the element, 5, is the sounding rod, 6, preferably of metal, extending upwardly from the bed plate and outwardly in any direction or directions as may be requiredto avoid bearing supports and the like, and terminating at some conveniently accessible point. The sounding rod may be a continuous piece of metal or it may be of separate pieces connected together by unions or elbows, 7 ,as shown in the drawing. This sounding rod may be secured to the bed plate or to any convenient portion of the machine which will be subjected'to variable vibrations as the distance between roll and bed plate is varied. I prefer however to connect it directly to the bed plate or to an extension thereof by any suitable means. For the purposes of illustration I have shown, in Figs. 3 and 4, a clamp secured to the bed plate by the bolt or cap screw, 8, and into which the lower extremity of the sounding rod is secured by means of the set screw, 9. In its broadest aspects, the sounding rod may be simply an ordinary bar or rod which will respond to the vibration of the machine and to which the operator may apply his ear or which he may grasp with his hand. For the convenience of the operatorthe rod should extend to any accessible pointand it may be desirable to provide the upper end thereof with an enlarged knob or button, 10. This button may be solid or open as shown in Fig. 5, and if open, may be provided with a rubber or other diaphragm, 11, across its open face.

In observing the vibrations of the engine, the operator may simply grasp the knob or button, 10,-or may place his ear against it or the diaphragm, 11. I find, however, that the application of a stethoscope to the bar or to the diaphragm is of material assistance in guiding the operator. Variations in the roll and plate spacing produce a decided change in the character of the hum produced in thesounding rod due to variations in the vi brations of the plate, and it will be found that the intensity of the vibration increases as the roll is lowered. By means of the stethoscope minute variations in the spacing are readily detected, and the uniformity of the hum affords an accurate index of the extent to which the beating process has been carried at a given spacing.

While I have described my invention in its preferred embodiment it is to be understood that the words which I have used .are words of description rather than words of limitation, and that changes, within the purview of the appended claims, may be made without departing from the. true scope and spirit of my invention in its broader aspects.

What I claim is V 1. In a beating engine, a sounding rod rigidly associated with a portion of said engine which is subjected to a variable vibration as the roll is lowered, and extending from the point of attachment to a point conveniently accessible for observation.

2. In a beating engine, the combination with a bed plate of means attached thereto adapted to vibrate therewith, and means for t 'ansmitting the vibrations of said first mentioned means to a convenient point for observation. I a r 3. In a beating engine, the combination with a bed plate, of a sounding rod rigidly secured thereto adapted to transmit the vibrations of said plate to an'accessible point for observation. 7

4. In a beating engine, the combination with a bed plate, of means forming an extension thereof to the exterior of the engine, and means associated with said extension adapted to transmit the vibrations thereof.

to a convenient point for observation.

5. In a beating engine, the combination with a bed plate, of a clamp thereon, adapted to vibrate therewith and forming a carrying means for a sounding rod adapted to transmit the vibrations of said clamp. to a c0nvenient point for observation. 1 p

6. In a beating engine, a sounding rod for transmitting the vibrations of said engine to a convenient point for observation and having a diaphragm associated therewith adapted to be actuated by said vibrations.

7. In a beatingengine, a vibration detecting device comprising a diaphragm and means forming a vibration transmitting medium rigidly connecting the diaphragm to said engine.

8. In a beating engine,'a vibration detecting device for indicating the spacing between the roll and bed plate comprising a sounding rod fixedly associated with the bed plate to vibrate therewith, and having a rubber diaphragm thereon actuated by the vibrations of said rod. I

9. In a machine for preparing paper stock, the combination with stationary and revolving cutting elements and means for varying the clearance distance between said stationary and revolving elements, of means for transmitting a tone of audio frequency, having a pitch resonant with the vibrations of said machine, to a convenient point for observation, whereby the efiect of variations in'the clearance of said elements may be noted by the variations in the tone transmitted to the observation point.

GEORGE STANFORD WITHAM, J R. 

